Overlapping linkage engagement for model-forming shaped sheet pieces



July 27, 1948.- w. J. wlswEsszR' 2,446,120

QVERLAPPING LINKAGE ENGAGEMENT FOR I MODEL-FORMING SHAPED SHEET PIECESFiled Sept. 5, 1946 William lwiswesser INVENTOR,

Patented July 27, 1 948 OVERLAPPJNGLINKAGE ENGAGEMENT on.

' MODEL-FORMING. SHAPED SHEET PIECE S William J. Wi'swesser; nears StonyCreek Mills; Pa., assignorftocwillson Products, Inc., Reading, Pa., acorporation-t Pennsylvania Application Sept mber 5, 1946, Serial No.694.913"

. 4Claims.

means for d'etachably -joining the shaped pieces by an overlapping,self-locking', flexible; linkage engagement of their marginal edges:

One important use ofsuch linkage engagement;

is the producti-on of iniproved atomic and molecu*-- lar" models ofsimplified and realistic representations for visual demonstrations inclass room teaching,- and as an aidin building complex repeatingstructures for polymer research studies;

Other important uses maybe found inoccupational therapy treatments, asinteresting meansfor developing mental and muscular facilities; as

aconstructive educational toy for children; andasa means for producingnovelty combinations for ornamental and decorative displays.

More specifically myinvention' comprises forming each of two sheetpieces to be united; with alocking aperture adjacent the marginaledgeofeach, and by simple oVerlappirrg"movem-ent0fsaid pieces, engaging themarginal edge o f'ea'ch in the locking aperture ofthe othershe etoneatleast ofsaid sheet'apertures having arr entrance slit thereto fromits marginal edge; yielding tof admit-entrance of the marginal edge ofthe other sheet into its locking aperture.

The nature of my'invention and the manneriof its operation will be morefully describedhereine after in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, and the novel features thereof set forth in the appendedclaims. In the drawings:

Fig. i is a plan view of one modelforming piece embodying my invention,and shown in the prefer-red shape of a disc.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof; taken on the line 22 ofFig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows two overlappingudisc pieces in incompleted engagingrelation to one another.

i adapted, without the use of any toolonadded'f 2" formed of anysuitable thin flexible materi'al, transparent plastic material inthispreferreddisc' shape being desirable andparticularl'y" arenas inbuilding up atomic and molecular models? The linkage connection foradded-disc? as shown, consists of a round aperture 6 'set 'i'nward fromthe peripheral-edge 1 of thedisc: Thisaper ture t has an openingtheretcformed hya 1 extending thereto from-said-peripheral edge W And as anessential of my invention, the diameter- 9= of aperture 6' (Fig. 2')"isnecessarilygreaterthan the length Wof slit B*(Fig.- 2)'- forerpurpos'e hereinafter described and the marginal secti" I! and" l2 oneach side Gf S]-it8" are normallymy substantial contact, butmaytemporaril-y yielding": fiex in opposed directions to provide anropempassage wayt'oaperture 6. p

The disc 5 thus formed withits lockingaper ture t and entrance slit 8thereto; as described,

bonding connection; to-join and interlockin engage with another piece'ordiscprovid'ed with" a like aperture of greater diameter thanitsspacedj location inward from its marginal edge;

In Fig; 3 I' haveindicated disc 5 with itsapje'r ture 6 andentrance slit8-inanincomplet'ed engagement with a similar disc havin'g i'irt ease -aclosed aperture 6a. Their' interlocking engagement may be simplyeffected, using the closed' marginal section l3'oidisc 5ato flex-marginal sections l l and. I2 out of the plane oitheirf disc 5, and inopposite directions, to provide an open passageway for overlappingm'ovementOf, the marginal edge l3 of'disc 5a into aperture 6" Lofdisc 5.The marginal edges H and l2 ofdiSo imtengagemen't, hut'd etachable byreversalof the Fig; 4 shows the completed-linked engagement describedengaging movements.

The inter'engagement of the discs 5 andittmaylq be bestefiected whenthey are in substantially fiat parallelrelation" to. one another, but 'Ido not";

io iwish to limit-myself toisuch disposition, asstlieyf Figs. 6'; '7, 8and 9 show modified variationsgof theshapeofthe sheet pieces, andloi thelockin apertures therein.

Fig. 10 shows my locking apertures appliedito posed; cennectingdisc FT,and it will benoted that" disciTstands in a plane at rightangles-totl'i'e' planes-of-di scs l5 and i6: 'Ihisright-angl.ed-re=lation-of a disc thus lockingly engaged with-am other, is normal, butquite flexible, and may be held fixed or provided with increasedflexibility disposed according to the ideal or equilibrium... And it isof course obvious positions of linkage. that the aperture of one of twodiscs to be linked together must have an entrance slit thereto; and itis also obvious, for economy of manufacture, that all apertures may beprovided with an entrance slit if desired, Without fundamental change inthe above described manner of their linking engagement.

In Fig. 5 I have indicated disc thus formed with multiple lockingapertures each provided with an entrance slit, and have shown a numberof discs linked together to indicate a possible composite figureformation.

vWhile disc shape of the pieces best lends itself to the needs of manyfigure assemblies and models, their shape may be varied as desired orrequired. I

For instancein Fig. 6 I have indicated a halfdiscshape 20, in Fig. 7 atriangular shaped piece 2|, in Fig. 8 a rectangular shaped piece 22 andin Fig. 9, a modified triangular shaped piece 23. And in Fig.1 7 I haveindicated the lockin apertures 25, 25, 25 as of oval shape, and due tothe locationof their entrance slits, as shown, the lateral margins ofsaid apertures are reduced, providing increased flexible movement of aninterlinked piece. In Fig. 8 I have shownthe apertures 26,

' 26, as rectangular with their width closely ap- :proxirnating thethickness of an attached piece,

reducing to a practically fixed relation the position of suchinterlinkedpieces.

In Figs. 10 and 11 I have indicated my invention applied to a knownradially slotted piece 30 adapted to receive and secure at right anglesa similarly slotted companion piece 3|, such arrangement providing for aball-like structure by interlinked added pieces.

As previously stated the diameter, or depth, 01' the locking aperturesin each disc, or shaped piece, must be eater than its spacing from itsmarginal edge, and this is obviously essential in order that themarginal sections outside said apertures will be narrow and readily,engage within the diameter or depth of their connected disc orshapedpiece apertures.

From the foregoing description it will be readily seen that I provide asimple and efiiective selfcontained linkage interengagement of separatepieces into a composite figure shape or model. That such linkageengagement is variably flexible; that only a small amount of energyisrequired to spring open the marginal sections II and I2 on each side ofentrance slit, and when sprun together securely lock said links togetherina strong interengagement. And when such disc or shaped pieces are usedin making atomic or molecular models, the energy required to interengagethem realistically represents a corresponding chemical activatingenergy,

What I claim is: a

1. Separate model forming pieces of thin resilicnt sheet materiallinkably engageable with companion pieces into a composite figurestructure, each piece consisting of a sheet of determined outline andhaving at least one linkage aperture occupying a small portion of thetotal area of the piece and spaced inwardly from its marginal edge andadapted to engage with the marginal section enclosing a like aperture ina companion sheet, the apertures in said discs being spaced inwardlyfrom their marginal edges at like distances, and having an inwardlyextending depth length greater than the width or its inward spacing fromsaid margin, and the aperture of one sheet having an entrance slitthereto from said marginal edge :in alinement with the axial depthlength of its aperture.

2. Separate model-forming disc-shaped pieces of thin resilient materialoverlappingly linkable at substantially right angles with similar discpieces to form a composite unit, each disc piece having a circularaperture occupying a small portion of the total area of the piece andspaced inwardly'from its marginal edge and adapted to r linkinglycngagewith the marginal section encirclin the aperture of a companion discpiece, each aperture havinga slightly greater diameter than its spaceddistance from it marginal edge so that join'ed pieces -will assume anangular rela-.

tionship, the aperture of one of; said disc pieceshaving an entranceslit thereto from the marginal edge of its disc.

3. In combination, a disc-shaped piece of thin resilient materialoverlappingly linked at substantially right angles with a similardiscpiece to form a composite unit, each disc piece having an apertureoccupying a small portion of the total area of the piece and spacedinwardly from, its

marginal edge and adapted to linkingly engage with the marginal sectionencircling the aperture of the companion disc piece, the aperture of oneof said disc pieces having an entrance slit thereto" from the marginaledge of its disc, the disc sections on each side of said entrance slitnormallyto form a composite molecular model unit, each disc piece havinga circular aperture occupying a small portion of the total area of theiece and inwardly spaced from its marginal edge and of slightly greaterdiameter than its inwardly spaced distance from said edge and thusadapted to linkably engage at right angles with the marginal sectionenclosing the aperture, of a disc piece to be linked therewith, and theaperture of both of said disc pieces having an entrance slit theretofrom its marginal edge, the slits ofsaid joined pieces being disposed soas to be substantially continuous and in alignment.

WILLIAM J. WIsmssER.

REFERENCES orrnn The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS I v Date Number Name 480,275 Osorio Aug. 9,1892705,833 Gee July 29, 1902 927,499 Davis July 13, 1909 1,429,465 TolgSept. .19, 1922 2,076,956 Lowenstein Apr. 13, 1937 2,286,969

Lane .a June 16, 1942

